Note: While you might not care one bit about Bryce Miller (Mariners), read the article on his splitter and how it is three different pitches. Guys who can manipulate pitches like he can, might be able to get away with fewer pitches.

American League

Astros

• Joey Loperfido will work on playing first base in the minors.

During spring training, Loperfido himself said the team never hit him groundballs on the back fields. He started just seven Triple-A games at first base before his promotion. He worked with bench coach Omar López to learn the nuances of the position during his time with the major-league team, but the coaching staff never felt comfortable testing it.

Monday, Espada said he envisions “kind of the same” division of playing time for Loperfido during this stint in Triple A, which includes first base “three or four times a week.”

Read the rest of this entry »

7:33	Jeff Zimmerman:

Read the rest of this entry »

In the article, I cover the players using CBS’s (about 40% or less initial roster rate) and Yahoo’s ADD/DROP rates. Both hosting sites have the option for daily and weekly waiver wire adds. CBS uses a weekly change while Yahoo looks at the last 24 hours. Yahoo is a great snapshot of right now while CBS ensures hot targets from early in the week aren’t missed. The players are ordered for redraft leagues by my rest-of-season preference grouped by starters, relievers, and hitters. Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Angels

• Luis Rengifo (.824 OPS) is batting first or second.

• Willie Calhoun (.798 OPS) has started in 10 straight games.

• Mickey Moniak (.497 OPS) and Kevin Pillar (1.226 OPS) are splitting time in left field. Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Astros

• Hunter Brown has added a sinker.

On May 5, Brown reached a last resort. He had not thrown or thought about a sinker since starring at Wayne State University in 2019. Spring training is the time to test out anything, but even then, Brown never brought out his forgotten pitch.

…

In four appearances since introducing his sinker, Brown has lowered his ERA from 9.78 to 7.06. He has allowed nine earned runs across those 20 1/3 innings, stabilizing a season that threatened to spiral. His six innings of two-run ball Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels were the most encouraging example of what Brown can be.

“That’s the Hunter that we all know. He can be that type of pitcher. He’s got the stuff,” manager Joe Espada said. “That sinker was a game-changer — throwing that stuff in on their hands and setting up the four-seamer up, the breaking ball.”

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While the NFBC Main Event garners most of the attention, there are a handful of leagues with even a larger entry fee ($2.5K to $15K). They were originally named “High Stakes Leagues” and this year there are ten of them. With so much money on the line, these fantasy managers try to gain any advantage. Most of the time, these managers will be a week or two ahead of everyone else on their adds. Here are the players and some information on the ones added in five or more leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

I can’t believe it’s been over five years since my daughter stepped in and wrote this post. In a few days she graduates from high school so I’ll be taking the week off (no weekend waiver wire article or chat) to enjoy time with family. As much as we enjoy this stupid game, friends and family mean so much more to us. I’m so pround of Ruby and can’t wait to watch her walk across the stage this weekend. -JZ

Note: I promised my kid she could write one of my articles this summer and as the summer winds down, I’m keeping my promise. -JZ

How do people do this? Writing for like 3000 hours. Then you get all mad that it must be 400 words. And figure out what to write. Then it can’t be big or small it has to be perfect. Then your kids take up all the internet. Then you have to know what BB% and Avg. for the player and it just gets soooo confusing. Then your brother is eating DILL PICKLE sunflower seeds and they smell GROOOOOSSS. When he snaps it and he spits on you. Are we there yet with this article?? This is so boring how do get this to be fun. All you do is sit and write. Then you are all itchy because you mowed the day before and the bugs bit you. Do you know what a parents favorite time of the year is SCHOOL XD. I would rather be in an ac room on my phone than at school. My favorite part of school is leaving 😉 Your brother thinks he can do math but he can’t. Anyway back to baseball. My dad lied to me about Coleverson [Culberson] can’t hit a home run but he did. Anyway, I am done. 204 words.

Post originally ran on August 9th, 2018

7:32	Jeff Zimmerman:

Read the rest of this entry »

In the article, I cover the players using CBS’s (about 40% or less initial roster rate) and Yahoo’s ADD/DROP rates. Both hosting sites have the option for daily and weekly waiver wire adds. CBS uses a weekly change while Yahoo looks at the last 24 hours. Yahoo is a great snapshot of right now while CBS ensures hot targets from early in the week aren’t missed. The players are ordered for redraft leagues by my rest-of-season preference grouped by starters, relievers, and hitters. Read the rest of this entry »

American League

Angels

• Mickey Moniak (vs RHP) and Kevin Pillar (vs LHP) are in a centerfield platoon.

• Willie Calhoun (.761 OPS) has started seven straight games at DH.

• Nolan Schanuel has sat against every lefty the team has faced.

Astros

• The outfield is getting crowded. The following four guys are battling over two spots.

Name: OPS
Jake Meyers: .799 OPS
Mauricio Dubón: .713 OPS
Joey Loperfido: .697 OPS
Trey Cabbage: .625 OPS

Athletics

• Brett Harris (.864 OPS) has started seven straight at third base while batting ninth.

• Because of Harris and the promotion of Tyler Soderstrom, Tyler Nevin (.231 OPS over the last week) might see a playing time decline.

• Max Schuemann (.699) has started two straight at shortstop with Darell Hernaiz on the IL.

Blue Jays

• Davis Schneider (.858 OPS, 3 HR, 1 SB) has started in nine of the last 10 games.

• Isiah Kiner-Falefa (.652 OPS) has started in eight of the last nine games.

• Cavan Biggio (.621 OPS) has started only once in the last six games.

Guardians

• Estevan Florial (.660 OPS, 3 HR, 2 SB) has hit leadoff in four of the last five games.

• Brayan Rocchio (.599 OPS) and Gabriel Arias (.609 OPS) could be splitting time at shortstop.

• Since his major league promotion, Kyle Manzardo (42% K%) has started in three of the last four games while batting in the bottom third of the lineup.

Mariners

• Luke Raley (vs RHP) and Sam Haggerty (vs LHP) are still in an outfield platoon.

• Josh Rojas has started three of the last five games in right field.

Orioles

• Jorge Mateo (.758 OPS, 2 HR, 5 SB) has started in seven of the last 10 games.

• Cedric Mullins (.637 OPS) is a fixture in the bottom third of the lineup

Rangers

• Davis Wendzel (.292 OPS) started at third base the last two times the team has faced a lefty instead of Josh Smith (.866 OPS).

• Ezequiel Duran (.623 OPS) still only faces lefties. His platoon partner seems to be Travis Jankowski.

Rays

• The lineup is getting crowded with several players coming off the IL.

• Jonny DeLuca (1.085 OPS, 1 HR, 2 SB) has started in six straight games.

• Richie Palacios and Amed Rosario are now splitting time at second base.

• Jose Siri has only started in three of the last seven games.

Red Sox

• Vaughn Grissom (.294 OPS) has hit fifth for three straight games.

• Wilyer Abreu (.807 OPS) has started against two of the last three lefties the team has faced.

• Dominic Smith (.488 OPS) and Garrett Cooper (.613 OPS) are manning the first base and DH spots.

Royals

• Nelson Velázquez (.594 OPS) has only started in five of the last 10 games. Four of the five games were at DH.

• The outfield is a dumpster fire with Hunter Renfroe, MJ Melendez, Kyle Isbel, Garrett Hampson, Dairon Blanco, and Velázquez trying to secure one of the three spots.

Tigers

• Colt Keith (vs RHP) and Andy Ibáñez (vs LHP) are in a second-base platoon.

• Matt Vierling (.742 OPS) sits every fifth game for Zach McKinstry (.587 OPS).

• Ryan Vilade was just promoted and might be on the short side of a platoon with Kerry Carpenter.

Twins

• Jose Miranda (.804 OPS, 2 HR) has started in six of the last seven games at third base. He’s hit fifth in the last two games.

White Sox

• Tommy Pham (.840 OPS) has hit leadoff over the last two games.

• Bryan Ramos (.900 OPS) has started at third base for five straight games since being recalled. In the last four games, he’s batted sixth.

Yankees

• The lineup has stabilized.

• Alex Verdugo (.258/.347/.422, with 5 HR) has started seven straight games including five of seven while batting cleanup.

National League

Braves

• Steady, no changes.

Brewers

• The outfield has gotten a little crowded with the return of Christian Yelich. Jake Bauers (.672 OPS), Jackson Chourio (.610 OPS), Sal Frelick (.623 OPS), and Blake Perkins (.747 OPS) are splitting time between two outfield spots.

• Brice Turang (.816 OPS, 15 SB) has hit leadoff over the last two games.

Cardinals

• It has only been one game since Willson Conteras went on the IL. Obviously, Iván Herrera will see more time but the DH will open up. In the first game, Brendan Donovan (.665 OPS) was the DH after playing in the field for 17 straight games. The player moving up might be Dylan Carlson (.083 OPS) who normally doesnt start against lefties but did in this instance.

Cubs

• Since coming off the IL, Cody Bellinger has batted third and only been the DH. It’ll be interesting to see how the playing time works out in centerfield (Pete Crow-Armstrong, .591 OPS) or first base (Michael Busch, .797 OPS).

Diamondbacks

• Over the last three games, Corbin Carroll (.206/.300/.270, 2 HR, 8 SB) is leading off.

• Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (.656 OPS, 5 HR, 2 SB) has moved from hitting second to sixth.

• Jake McCarthy (.752 OPS) has only started in seven of the last 10 games and is now batting seventh.

Dodgers

• Just the three platoons:

1. Max Muncy (vs RHP) and Enrique Hernández (vs LHP)
2. James Outman (vs RHP) and Chris Taylor (vs LHP)
3. Gavin Lux (vs RHP) and Miguel Rojas (vs LHP)

• The two outfield platoons might adjust soon with Jason Heyward about to come off the IL.

Giants

• Thairo Estrada (.248/.277/.418, 5 HR, 1 SB) has hit second in four straight games.

Marlins

• Jazz Chisholm Jr. is now leading off.

• Since coming off the IL, Jake Burger is batting third.

• Vidal Bruján (.266/.338/.391, 0 HR, 2 SB) has started in 11 of the last 12 games. He’s now playing second base.

• Nick Gordon (.625 OPS, 5 HR, 1 SB) has started five straight games with the last four in left field.

Mets

• Harrison Bader, J.D. Martinez, DJ Stewart, and Tyrone Taylor aren’t playing enough to matter in most leagues.

Name: OPS, Games Started in last 10
J.D. Martinez: .701, 7
DJ Stewart: .780, 6
Harrison Bader: .654, 6
Tyrone Taylor: .736, 5

Nationals

• Jacob Young (.301/.372/.373, 0 HR, 12 SB) has hit leadoff in four of the last five games.

• Eddie Rosario (vs RHP) and Alex Call (vs LHP) are in an outfield platoon.

• Trey Lipscomb (.244/.317/.289, 1 HR, 6 SB) has started in 11 of the last 12 games at third base. In the last five, he’s hit ninth.

• Nick Senzel (.761 OPS, 5 HR) has started in 11 straight games while hitting in the top half of the lineup.

• Luis García Jr. (.321/.374/.491, 3 hr, 7 SB) is batting third but there are signs of a possible platoon (.614 OPS vs LHP, .737 OPS vs RHP).

Padres

• Luis Arraez is now hitting leadoff with Jurickson Profar hitting fourth or fifth.

Phillies

• J.T. Realmuto is batting second.

• Whit Merrifield (.659 OPS) and Edmundo Sosa (.806 OPS) are splitting the playing time from Trea Turner’s injury.

Pirates

• A mess to figure out.

• Jack Suwinski (vs RHP) and Michael A. Taylor (vs LHP) are in a centerfield platoon. Both are hitting in the bottom third of the lineup.

• Edward Olivares (vs LHP) and Rowdy Tellez (vs RHP) are in a platoon with Connor Joe moving around.

• Connor Joe (.288/.363/.450, 3 HR, 2 SB) has started in seven of the last eight games.

Reds

• It’s only been two games since Christian Encarnacion-Strand went on the IL, but the team did split between a righty and lefty starter in those games. In those, Santiago Espinal faced the lefty and Mike Ford the righty. Additionally, it’s not obvious what is going on between Jake Fraley and Will Benson with TJ Friedl back in centerfield. It’s a lineup to revisit in a few games to see who can be added or most likely dropped.

Rockies

• Sean Bouchard (.286/.388/.476, 1 HR, 1 SB) has started in four straight games.

• While Jordan Beck (.344 OPS, 44% K%) has started in nine straight games, he hit ninth in the last three.

• Charlie Blackmon, who doesn’t have a career platoon split, isn’t facing lefties.